Reply Reply to the discussions of using control charts to monitor financial reporting of public companies Richard B. Dull a, * , David P. Tegarden b a School of Accountancy and Legal Studies, Clemson University, 309 Sirrine Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA b Pamplin College of Business, USA Received 1 February 2004; accepted 1 February 2004 The authors appreciate the time the discussants put into reading and thinking about our paper. Such efforts are mandatory for the development of quality research. The discus- sants’ comments include ideas that should improve this paper, as well as several excellent suggestions for future research. Anytime we receive feedback on our work, we thought- fully consider each comment and, when applicable, incorporate the thoughts and ideas into future extensions of the project. The current paper is an initial investigation that is intended to start a process of adopting control charts in continuous assurance environments. Technology has allowed major changes in accounting information systems, including the capabilities of near continuous reporting of financial information. Auditors must adapt not only to the system changes but also to the changing needs of the users of the information and governmental agencies. To help address these changes, auditors need more tools and techniques to help transition to a continuous environment. We believe that studies such as this paper are important in the search for ways to help auditors in this environment. There are a few issues raised by the reviewers to which we would like to specifically reply. 1. Theoretical background Inasmuch as the use of statistical quality control processes and control charts have been described in great detail in conjunction with other continuous data environments, we only included the basics that we believed were applicable and necessary for the reader to understand their use in continuous monitoring of financial data applications. We believe that 1467-0895/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.accinf.2004.02.006 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-864-656-0610; fax: +1-864-656-4892. E-mail address: rdull@clemson.edu (R.B. Dull). International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 5 (2004) 135 – 137